Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passports issued annually since 2005; the number of passports deemed lost annually since 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13243/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Details of the numbers of passports reported as lost or stolen since 2005 are set out in the table below.

The introduction of the biometric or e-Passport on 16 October, 2006 further enhanced the security features of the Irish passport. The microchip in the passport contains a digital image of the holder which cannot be altered. Any attempt to alter the data on the microchip will be apparent when the passport is read at a border control station because of the added security on our chip. Border control authorities can be assured that the document is genuine and unaltered.

To compliment the major technical advance which the APS passport represented new legislation was enacted in 2008. The Passports Act 2008 introduced a series of new offences relating to the misuse of passports and passport fraud.

As regards lost or mislaid passports, the Department is constantly urging that care and vigilance be observed, and that passports should always be kept in a secure place. The percentages of Irish passports which are lost and stolen is in line with other countries, including the United Kingdom.

Since 1 October, 2009 the Department increased the frequency of its reporting of the serial numbers of all lost/mislaid or stolen passports to Interpol through An Garda Síochána, to daily reports. This information is then made available immediately to police forces worldwide in the Interpol database to protect against the fraudulent use of these Irish passports.

The holders of lost/mislaid or stolen passports are advised not to use them again for any travel if they are subsequently recovered. When completing the statement of loss as part of their new passport application, applicants undertake not to travel on a missing passport if subsequently found. However, a number of individuals either unknowingly or mistakenly use their previously reported lost or stolen passports. This may account for the following numbers of Irish citizens who were delayed at international border controls:

2008 - 87

2009 – 126 There has been an increase in these incidents which is due to in part to heightened security at international ports and airports and an increase in the number of border stations worldwide that are electronically reading passports.

In each of the cases above, the Passport Office has received a request from Interpol to verify the identity of the travellers. The Passport Office has been able to resolve such cases after checks of the relevant passport details against its own database were carried out.